Please note:Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or printed material.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or printed material.

Some material may contain terms that reflect authors’ views, or those of the period in which the item was written or recorded, but may not be considered appropriate today. These views are not necessarily the views of AIATSIS. While the information may not reflect current understanding, it is provided in an historical context.

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Aboriginal Australia map

Aboriginal Australia map

For thousands of years, the original inhabitants of Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples occupied the lands with very different boundaries than today, centred on intimate cultural relationships with the land and sea.

The map is an attempt to represent all the language, tribal or nation groups of the Aboriginal people of Australia. Aboriginal groups were included on the map based on the published resources available between 1988 and 1994 which determine the cultural, language and trade boundaries and relationships between groups. Regions were determined using the watershed basis as a template.

The map was developed along with the Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia as part of a research project. The Encyclopedia is available in libraries and contains more detailed information about the groups represented on the map.

"What was before Lord Vestey born and I born? It was blackfella country."
–Vincent Lingiari (Wattie Creek 1966)

Limitations of the Aboriginal Australia map

The Aboriginal Australia map was produced for a general reading audience. The map is not definitive and is not the only information available which maps language and social groups. See also AUSTLANG.

The information on which the map is based is contested and may not be agreed to by some landowners.The borders between groups are purposefully represented as slightly blurred. They do not claim to be exact.

The map was produced before native title legislation and is not suitable for use in native title or other land claims.